


Hand of Maker

by Neko_Airie



Series: Rarities come in Handy [29]
Category: Les Trois Mousquetaires | The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas, The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 06:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10551948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neko_Airie/pseuds/Neko_Airie
Summary: A plan goes horribly wrong. What are the consequences?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Selene467](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selene467/gifts).



> Here is the next instalment, written and posted in the only two spare hours I have had in a year. Gonna try and update more frequently. I hope.

Treville had called it easy, simple. Just a simple letter drop. Take the letter to the destination. Practically a holiday! Thats what the Captain had called it. D’Artagnan decided that he was going to have to have a word with the Captain about his definition of easy and demand an actual holiday from the man after this. He groaned quietly as his aching back screamed to be flexed but couldn’t. The lithe young man was currently led on his back in the crawl space of a old free standing barn. The very tight and smelly crawl space. He looked to his left to Anu and could practically hear her words from just the expression on her face. ‘When we get out of here you are giving me a hot bath’ She was covered head to tail in thick mud that was matting her normally immaculate fur. He tried to give her a smile but she just bared her teeth at him in annoyance. He grimaced and looked back up at the floor boards above him then through the cracks to the bandits that were using the barn as a store house and hide out. 

He and Porthos were to wait here until Aramis had taken as many of the weapons that were reachable from the bandits, before they engaged them in combat. He was to keep an eye on the bandits this end and Porthos the other end. He could already tell that Adelynn was taking the cold stinking mud better than Anu. If he stretch his neck slightly he could see her in the distance and smiled as her tail twitched occasionally in excitement. His attention is suddenly taken by the bandits as they start to stand and move clearly reaching for weaponry that is now missing. D’Artangan takes a deep breath, this is it. He rolls over in the space and heads for the gap at the edge of the barn that they had created when the bandits were out. He can hear his leather squelching in the mud and can only imagine what it is doing to Anu’s fur as she follows. 

Reaching the small gap he carefully lifts himself out and waits. Crouched behind a large wall of crates he listens, Anu is at his side belly pressed low and ready. A few seconds later that angry exclamations from the bandits are heard and he jumps into action. He kicks the largest crate at the bottom and causes the entire wall to fall drawing attention to himself. He gives it a split second for them to see him before he take give a cocky smirk and dashes off in the direction of the narrow stair case that leads to the roof where Aramis and Athos are now waiting. The plan was to create a bottle neck, fight the bandits near one to one and keep the fight at one sided as possible. That was the plan at least. 

D’Artagnan takes off up the side of the barn not looking back, the thundering of feet and angry shouts behind him enough to let him know that this part of the plan has worked. Anu is at his side weaving between the boxes of stolen goods as they head to the stairs at the back of the barn. He looks to his left and can see Porthos already at the bottom of the stairs and heading up them. The he sees it, the problem. The barn has another way to the roof, one they didn’t see before and the bandits are heading up it. He pushes himself forwards harder yelling a warning to his three brothers in arms as he reaches the stairs and starts up them.

The sunlight blinds him when he bursts through to door to the roof, white light covering his vision and he stumbles around for a second. He quickly tried to orientate himself as he hears the sounds of fighting all around him. He shakes his head and rubs his eyes blinking in the sun to clear his vision. He draws his sword and swings hoping to hit anyone that is too close to keep them back. He can hear Anu fighting at his side and takes a deep breath preparing himself as his vision finally clears. He asses the situation quickly. “Anu, go help Aramis and Athos. They are being over run.” He calls to the tiger as he picks a bandit and engages him roughly. The tiger nodded and called something back but it’s lost to the clashing of metal and the sound of pistol fire that is filling the roof top. 

D’Artangan can only concentrate on himself and the ten foot square around him, he is forced to trust that Anu, Athos and Aramis can take care of the bandits. Bijou and Evette can only be so useful in a dog fight light this so they had elected to stay hidden but close. He can see them fighting but can’t watch for long before he is pulled back to his fight, Adelynn is on his left and he is careful not to injure her as he pulls his pistol and fires at a bandit. Porthos is to his right, roaring in the excitement of the fight. The bear of a man is surrounded by a group of bandits all swinging and firing trying to bring him down. Porthos laughs as he grabs the fist of a swinging bandit and throws the man to the edge of the roof. The bandit scrabbles to ensure that he doesn’t plummet to his death and decides that to day was a good day to run. 

The fight is not long but its exhausting and musketeers start to tire eventually, they swing, slash and parry like experts but they know that they need to end the fight soon. Porthos growls under his breath as he takes on another bandit, he’s focused and fierce with this one. He doesn’t see the one behind him pull back and search the roof with his gaze. This bandit is smart. He locates Adelynn with beady eyes and raises his cocked pistol. D’Artangan sees the move out the corner of his eyes, the muzzle has flashed in the sun. He thinks for a split second that the man is aiming for him but realises that it’s Adelynn. The world seems to slow as he screams for the daemon to watch out. Adelynn twisting as she runs just in time to dodge the shot. 

Porthos spins and crushes the bandit with a boulder like fist but its too late. In her desperation to dodge the fatal shot Adelynn has lost control of her momentum and is sliding along the roof towards the edge. Porthos can’t do anything as she starts to scrambles and claw at the ground to try and slow herself. It’s not going to be enough. 

D’Artagnan’s frozen, the world slow and dull around him for a second before everything rushes him and he feels himself throwing every muscle into following the daemon. His hand is out and he’s lurching over the side of the barn. His fingers close on course fur and he screams as he uses is sword to stop their decent by jamming it in the roof. Everything comes to a jerking stop and then theres quiet. He’s just hanging there, his chest over the edge of the roof. One hand stretched to keep hold of the sword and the other tightly gripping the scruff of Adelynns neck. He looks at the point of contact as his chest heaves. He’s touching her, he’s touching Adelynn.

He’s always allowed Porthos to touch Anu, it had become practically normal for the musketeer. With her being so large and the spaces they had to share so small it was unavoidable sometimes and he had always trusted the other man. His brother in arms and best friend. That still didn’t mean that Porthos had ever indicated that it was okay to touch Adelynn. He had never seen another human touch Adelynn, not Aramis, not Athos. No one. He takes a shuddering breaths as a wave of guilt rushed over him about this sudden and accidental violation of one of his closest friends. He scrambles and hoists the daemon back up onto the roof, by this time that last of bandits had been dealt with. There are a few stragglers run down and away from the group but there are none fighting. 

He deposits the daemon a good four feet away form he edge and lets go of her like she’s on fire. Guilt and shame run through him as he steps away. He can only think of how it felt when Louis had groped at Anu and how wrong it had been. He feels like a monster in that moment. He watches as Porthos moves quickly to her and picked her up, squeezing her to his chest and pressing his face into her fur. D’Artagnan would later question of the man was crying now but its the farthest thing from his mind in this moment. 

D’Artangan looks down when he feels fur on his leg and sees Anu, he looks about now seeing Athos and Aramis moving over. The pair look confused, their respective daemons talking quietly. Athos moves to D’Artagnans side and looks him over. “D’Art?” He questions lightly. “What on earth is going on? What happened to Porthos and Adelynn, they look like they have seen death.” He prodded the younger man in the arm. “D’Art? Hey, what’s going on. Porthos is acting weird and so are you?” He tries again but gets little by way of an answer. D’Artagnan brain is turning over and he can only imagine how he looks. Like a man walking to the gallows, his internal voice supplies. It was an appropriate metaphor in this moment as Porthos has started to move and is coming towards him.

D’Artangan can’t help but take a step back when Porthos gets too close, he fears what the man is going to do. He looks at Porthos. “Porthos….I-“ He is cut off abruptly when he is suddenly embraced in a bone crushing bear hug. His entire body is pressed into the older mans and he can barely breaths for the few moments that he is compress to Porthos chest. When the musketeer pulls back he looks down at him. “Thank you…we would have died if she fell” He says quietly though his usually loud and brusk voice is filled with a myriad of emotion. D’Artagnan dares to crack and a smile and relaxes a little. “No Problem.” He manages. “Just returning the favour.” He adds and then nods to the larger man.

Athos and Aramis watch the exchange from the side lines and wonder what on earth has happened to cause this display. They dare not intrude on the clearly personal moment and just wait until the pair are done. Anu is not about to wait though. She has had quite enough of this entire thing and stomps up to the pair. “D’Artagnan. I want a bath.” She declares loudly and then heads towards the stairs of the barn. 

D’Artangan just blinks and Porthos bursts out laughing with Adelynn at his side. Where she is supposed to be.


End file.
